Kevin Costner’s legal team has accused his ex-wife Christine Baumgartner of “gamesmanship of the worst sort” as their divorce battle continues, it has been reported.
New court documents reportedly show that the Yellowstone star is asking the court to compel his former wife of 18 years to explicitly answer a number of questions his attorneys have put to her about their premarital agreement (PMA).
According to People, which obtained the documents, Costner’s lawyers have claimed that Baumgartner, 49, has avoided answering questions throughout the discovery process and that she claims not to understand certain words such as “understood” or “negotiation”, and therefore cannot answer them.
The actor’s legal team also claims Baumgartner has avoided answering whether or not she understood the agreement before she signed it, and branded her legal strategy “gamesmanship of the worst sort”.
Gamesmanship in a lawsuit refers to the aim of creating additional expense or stress for the other party in order to persuade them to abandon their case or settle on more favourable terms.
Baumgartner and Costner signed a PMA before their marriage in 2004. The agreement’s terms state that Baumgartner received a US$1.5m payout after she filed for divorce in May. However, if she challenges the agreement, she reportedly may have to forfeit the settlement.
Costner’s lawyers quoted the agreement in legal documents filed in June, saying: “If Christine, in any manner, challenges or assists in the challenge of the validity or enforceability of any provision of this Agreement, she shall lose any and all rights to receive any payment, Property or Interest from Kevin pursuant to this Agreement.”
Marilyn Chinitz, a matrimonial attorney based in New York who does not represent either party, told People that such clauses are routine, adding: “It’s basically saying, ‘If you’re going to challenge the agreement as being invalid and unenforceable, then anything that you may have benefited by, I have a right to claw back’.”
Both legal teams are currently preparing to go to trial in November to determine the validity of the PMA. But Costner’s lawyers have accused Baumgartner of “[refusing] to make known all of her contentions” about the validity of the agreement.
Kevin Costner and his wife Christine Baumgartner at the Oscars in 2022— (AFP via Getty Images)
The document stated, as per People: “The objections [Baumgartner] has mustered in an effort to not disclose her contentions are frivolous. She says she does not understand words like ‘understood’ or ‘negotiation’, so she cannot answer this discovery.
“She says she does not know what commonly legal phrases like ‘legal effect’ and ‘supersedes’ mean, so she cannot answer this discovery. She refuses to admit (or even deny) that the specific factual representations she and her attorney made in the PMA itself are accurate, to wit, that she understood the PMA, that it was explained to her and that she acknowledged she understood the meaning and legal effect of the PMA.”
It comes after Costner was reportedly ordered to pay his ex-wife $129,000 in monthly child support, which is double what he initially offered to give her.
Baumgartner previously requested that a judge order the Bodyguard star to pay $248k per month, as well as 100 per cent of their three teenage children’s private tuition, healthcare expenses and extracurricular activities. She reportedly argued that the amount was less than what was needed to “maintain the children in their accustomed lifestyle”.
Meanwhile, Costner had alleged that Baumgartner breached their PMA by “refusing” to move out of the California house they shared. She has since moved out into a reportedly US$35k per month rental home in the same area after being ordered to vacate the premises by 31 July.
The pair share three children, Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13. Costner was previously married to Cindy Silva, with whom he also shares three children, and also has a son with Bridget Rooney.
